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Mr. Retro, Jamie's encyclopedic gaming knowledge is so far beyond measure we'd love to open a library inside his head. Hurry up, science.
Game of the Year Jamie's Top 5 PS4 Games of 2019
Memory lane
Alongside our staff-voted Game of the Year awards, each of our writers have crafted their own personal lists, covering their top five PlayStation 4 titles of 2019. Today, it's the turn of reviewer Jamie O'Neill. 5. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors: In a similar way to Blazing Chrome, the pixel art in The Ninja Saviors:...
Review The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors - A PS4 Remake of a Classic Beat-'Em-Up
Tengo's game works
Developed by NatsumeAtari's Tengo Project team, The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors is a remake of a 1994 SNES beat-'em-up, The Ninja Warriors Again, which in itself felt like a mixture of sequel and remake of TAITO's 1987 The Ninja Warriors arcade game. With gameplay that expands upon the template set by the likes of
Review Crash Team Racing - Naughty Dog Created the Best Kart Racer on PSone
Bandicoot power slide
Start your engines, and fasten your seatbelts for another Naughty Dog creation. In this case it's CTR: Crash Team Racing from 1999, which also happens to be the greatest kart racing game on the PSone. Released in the same year as Speed Freaks, and colourful mascot racers like Bomberman Fantasy Race on PSone, Crash Team Racing...
Vampires. I hate these guys
With a series as well-loved as Castlevania, Konami has sensibly approached celebrating the company's 50th anniversary by providing a game selection in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection with a sense of focus and balance. As opposed to Metroidvania games, the focus here is upon the traditional-style, stage-progression...
Game of the Year 2018 Jamie's Personal Picks
New and old
The annual Push Square Towers tradition is back, as we sit down our scribes and pester them once more for their five favourite PlayStation games of the year. With such a strong assortment of software in 2018, it’s always tough deciding upon the cream of the crop. We threatened to confiscate Jamie's retro consoles before he sent us his...
Review Rayman - An 'Armless PSone Platforming Treat
Ray-manifestation of UbiArt
Even twenty years ago, any love felt towards PSone Rayman's luscious art style could quickly turn into hate due to its spikily relentless difficulty barrier, but a cathartic sense of satisfaction could also be found by perseverant gamers who endured to conquer all eighteen of its levels. As a December 1995 EU launch...
Review Battle Arena Toshinden - Significant But Not Special
Not quite a load of old Tosh-inden
"Play History. Make History." The marketing tagline for the 2018 release of the PlayStation Classic highlights an added attribute of the miniature console in the sense that all 20 games included may not actually be classic PSone games, yet even the less worthy inclusions provide gamers with a snapshot of playing...
Review Castlevania Requiem - A Compelling Collection of Two Classics
A memorable little pile of secrets
Unsung heroes are prominent in literature and film. Without spoilers, consider if Frodo had embarked on his quest without Sam's support in The Lord of the Rings, and think about nerdy Neville Longbottom's overlooked role in protecting the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The true heroes behind this Castlevania...
Soapbox Castlevania Requiem’s Release is Vamp-perfectly Timed for Halloween
Jamie is Iga to sing Castlevania’s praises for its Gothic atmosphere
Not only is Castlevania: Rondo of Blood my first pick when playing a traditional-style Castlevania arcade platformer, but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is possibly my favourite PSone game of all time. It’s conventional for gamers to play spookily themed titles during...
Review Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle (PS4)
A brawler CPS-pecialist's dream Capcom-pilation
Don’t hang up! We have a little business proposition for you. Push Square propose that any retro gamer with a love of side-scrolling beat-‘em-ups make it their business to play the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle, particularly as a historical jaunt through an impressive display of seven cherry-picked...
Review Another World (PlayStation 4)
Back off, man. I'm a scientist
Republished on Wednesday 29th August 2018: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the announcement of September's PlayStation Plus lineup. The original text follows. A tiny team of developers with an independent spirit and a vision of creating a game that’s inspired by classic science fiction...
Interview From Psygnosis to Persistence - Reassembling Studio Liverpool into Scouse Scares
We fire up Firesprite's studio history
In our third article following Push Square’s visit to Firesprite, we sent one of our retro enthusiasts who was particularly eager to learn more about the links between its studio’s history with Psygnosis and Studio Liverpool. In time for the launch week of the sci-fi horror game The Persistence we also...
Soapbox Playing The Persistence As My First Ever PSVR Experience
Jamie and the magic torch
I felt well situated to visit Firesprite to play its PlayStation VR stealth horror game The Persistence for Push Square recently. I’m local to Merseyside, so travelling from my home to its Liverpool office took twenty minutes in total. I’m also a keen retro gamer, and once I had the fascinating opportunity to talk to...
In space, she wore the brown pants
Push Square recently visited the Liverpool city centre base of the independent studio Firesprite in the sunny North West of England to discuss The Persistence, which in the words of Game Director Stuart Tilley is a “brutal, sci-fi, stealth horror roguelike” game releasing on PlayStation VR next week. We sat...
Game of the Year #7 - Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4)
Knight time
It's an indication that 2015 has been an impressive year for games, when a Rocksteady Studios Batman: Arkham title doesn't break into the Game of the Year Top Five list, and settles for a respectable seventh place from Push Square instead. Even its E3 2015 trailer was overshadowed beneath the cowl of amazing announcements that preceded...
Game of the Year #8 - Transformers: Devastation (PS4, PS3)
Lighting our darkest hour
Transformers: Devastation's 2015 launch possibly missed out on PlayStation 4 sales by releasing in the same October week as Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, so to discover that Platinum Games' single player brawler title – with a five hour game length – has achieved eighth place in Push Square's Game of the Year...
Run-and-Gungan-less
One thing that Nintendo and Star Wars share as a brand is devoted loyalty from their fans, and this can partially be attributed to the immense nostalgia that gamers and film buffs feel from experiencing true excellence. On the 21st November 2015 the Japanese Super Famicom celebrated its 25th birthday, and the SNES earned its name...
A pair of 2.5Determined magical hoppers
How could a developer solve a problem like a desire to build a side-scrolling platformer in a 1996 3D graphics obsessed world? The answer was to find a middle ground, which we affectionately refer to as 2.5D today. Published by Crystal Dynamics and created by Toys for Bob in Novato, California close to the...
GEX-sticulates yelling '90s pop culture quips
A game can be an interesting representation of its generation without being beautiful, timeless, and artistically ageless. Released on the EU's PSone in April 1996, GEX was loud, brash, and in-your-face, but so were films like Point Break and ska-punk bands such as Assorted Jelly Beans during the 1990s...
Review Mickey's Wild Adventure (PSone)
Traveller's tenaciously timeless theatrical tales
Every gaming generation has a few genre styles that are dominant, and in the early 1990s scrolling shmups, brawlers, and cutesy mascot platformers were the most prevalent titles on a game shop's shelves. Julian 'Jaz' Rignall was prophetic in his editorial for the February 1991 issue five of Mean...
FEISARis, not Surfaris
Republished on Tuesday, 29th September 2015: We're bringing this review back from the archives to celebrate the PSone's big 20th Anniversary in Europe today. The original text follows. Originally published on Saturday, 12th October 2013: When the magazine reviews of WipEout landed a month after its September 1995 release,...
Renegade skid
It's apparent that the PlayStation 4's 2015 gaming year will most notably be remembered for a handful of exemplary AAA open world games, but pulsating under the radar there has also been a fine array of pixel art 2D games released on the console this year. With examples like Shovel Knight and Super Time Force Ultra, this is partially...
Dan, Dan, you’re decomposing, man
Republished on Thursday, 4th December 2014: We're bringing this review back from the archives to celebrate the PSone's big 20th Anniversary this week. The original text follows. Originally published on Saturday, 19th October 2013: It can be a tough life being a PSone retro game. After all, you were fresh and...
Feature Games of the Generation - Jamie's Five Favourites
Big bets
Welcome to Push Square’s all-encompassing Games of the Generation series. In the lead up to the PlayStation 4’s release later this week, we’ll be rounding up our writers in an effort to look back at some of their favourite PlayStation 3 games. These titles have been hand-selected personally by each individual author. This time, we're...
